Almost Shattered
by Sull89
Summary: One shot. When Ed leaves Resembool again Winry really starts to wonder if he ever thinks of home unless required to. It takes another stern female to show Winry that she can't keep such a narrow view on the alchemist.


Turning to Pinako, Winry sighed and gripped the elbow of one arm with her other hand, "Grandma, do you think they remember us after they leave?" Looking out the window, she followed the retreating figures with her eyes, yearning to follow them but knowing she'd never be able to, "I just… with everything they do, I wonder if they ever stop to think of home."

Pinako turned from the sink to stare at Winry with her astute, piercing gaze, "What you mean to ask is does _Ed_ ever take the time to think about us; or rather, you, isn't it?" Without waiting for an answer, Pinako started to do the dishes again as she said, "We both know that, Winry, so you might as well just come out and say it."

Hanging her head slightly, the young woman grimaced, "You're right." Although she didn't like to admit it, Winry knew that her grandmother spoke the truth; it was the older Elric brother whom was always on her mind. Edward meant so much to her, but Winry could never tell for sure if he felt the same way about her.

"It's just so hard, Grandma," Winry slowly wrapped a few strands of hair around a finger, fidgeting as she talked, "knowing that he's out there risking his life and there's nothing I can do to help him." Scuffing her foot against the floor, the teenaged Rockbell blushed ever so slightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he never thought about me, really. I don't deserve his time."

Dropping the plate she had started to clean back into the sink and ignoring the fact that it cracked when it hit the basin, Pinako put her fists to both stout hips and snapped, "How do you figure?" Sucking ferociously on the pipe held in one corner of her mouth, the old woman told her granddaughter how things stood, "You better not start feeling sorry for yourself because you have no right to."

Taken aback, Winry could do nothing but stare at Pinako as she kept talking, "Compared to many of the people in this world, you have a wonderful life." Tapping her foot against the floor, Pinako gave off every indication that she thought her charge had said something extremely stupid, "You've got a home, a family, and a very marketable skill. You're not lacking for much. Winry couldn't get a word in edgewise to defend herself because Pinako just kept going, "Not only that, but you've got a boy in your life who loves you with all his heart, even if you yourself can't see it."

At seeing Winry's stunned look, Pinako softened her demeanor a bit, "Edward, even though he's the rude, obnoxious, obsessed, short little alchemist that he is, really cares for you." Nodding once and then tipping her head slightly in the direction taken by the departed, Pinako worked to get that through Winry's head, "Why do you think they ask you to stay here in Resembool every time they leave, even though you always ask to go with them?"

Winry shrugged slightly, "I… Well, I figured they had better things to do than worry about me. If I go with them I'd probably just be a nuisance and a danger."

Pinako growled softly, "Winry, use your head. You're Ed's mechanic, aren't you?" When Winry nodded in response to the seemingly out-of-the-blue question her grandmother continued, "Wouldn't it be easier for him if you were around all the time? That way he wouldn't have to come back here every time he broke one of his limbs; goodness knows he seems to do it on an almost weekly basis."

"I never thought of that…" Winry's voice quietly drifted off as she considered what her older, wiser relative was trying to say. Bringing a hand up to her face, she balled it in front of her mouth and rested her lips against it as she thought, "I really never looked at it like that."

A small smile broke across Pinako's features; they were finally getting somewhere, "Evidently not, child." Finally relaxing a bit, Pinako picked up the plate she had cracked and then handed it to Winry, "Take care of this, please. Once you're done come back though, there's something else I want to ask you."

Winry took the plate, but she didn't make a move to throw it away after that. Instead she took a seat at the table and crossed one leg underneath her, "It always worries me though. I mean… He's a State Alchemist. He goes through so much, but he won 't tell me anything!" Dashing the sudden tears from her eyes with an angry flick, Winry continued, "He always blocks me out and pushes me away!" Running her fingers along the grooves engraved in the edge of the cracked plate, Winry choked back a small sob as her voice wavered, "I don't think I could deal with it if I knew Ed forgot me."

Hearing the tone of Winry's voice, the underlying pain and confusion that it carried, Pinako's heart went out to her. The young woman always seemed so confident and steady, but in the few times she allowed her emotions to really show through it was evident how much she usually held back.

Finally altogether abandoning her effort to clean, Pinako walked over to Winry and patted her knee a few times, "I told you I had something else to ask, didn't I?" As Winry looked up through tear-stained eyes, a small look a curiosity started to shimmer though them and Pinako jumped on the chance to make her feel better, "You remember the day we first attached his automail?"

Winry nodded; of course she remembered because there was no way she could forget. "Ed was in so much pain; I could see it in his eyes. He held it in though," Winry closed her eyes for a moment, bringing back that day to play in her mind, "even though it has made grown men cry, Ed hardly made a sound." Winry gave a lopsided half-smile, "I think he didn't want Al to know and worry."

Switching the leg she rested on, Winry stretched her newly freed one out in front of her, "That's why I told Alphonse to get out; Ed was trying so hard to stay strong…" Winry bit her bottom lip lightly, "I didn't want Al to see him in the few moments he really wasn't."

Pinako rested her chin in the palm of one hand as she raised her eyebrows slightly, asking Winry a silent question. Her granddaughter stared at her for a few moments, but then recognition at what Pinako was saying finally clicked in. Her eyes wide in wonder and sudden understanding, Winry gave a little gasp.

"Grandma!" Breathing out slowly, Winry tried to stay calm, "That's what you were trying to make me see, isn't it?" Now fully ecstatic and unable to hold it in, Winry lept up and wrapped Pinako in a large hug, "You're right." She grabbed the plate from its resting spot on the table and then whirled around in a circle, clutching it to her chest, "That's what Ed's been doing with me!"

Coming to a halt, Winry turned her gaze to the plate clasped in her hands, "Do you mind if I keep this? For a reminder of sorts…" She smiled slightly, happy with her newfound knowledge, "Just because you think something is cracked and beyond repair doesn't mean that's the truth. I bet I can fix this."

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Read and review please!  
-Sull 


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